The UN General Assembly on Friday called by a large majority for an “immediate humanitarian truce” in Gaza, on the 21st day of the Israel-Hamas conflict as the Israeli army announced it was extending its ground operation into the shattered territory.

The non-binding resolution, criticized by Israel and the United States for failing to mention Hamas, received 120 votes in favor, 14 against and 45 abstentions from UN members.

Israel angrily dismissed the measure, and said the country would use “every means at our disposal” in confronting Hamas.

“Today is a day that will go down as infamy. We have all witnessed that the UN no longer holds even one ounce of legitimacy or relevance,” Israeli ambassador Gilad Erdan said, telling the assembly: “Shame on you.”

“Israel will continue to defend itself. We will defend our future, our very existence by ridding the world of Hamas’s evil so that it can never threaten anyone else again,” he said.

Hamas meanwhile welcomed the call for a break in the conflict.

“We demand its immediate application to allow the entry of fuel and humanitarian aid for civilians,” said a Hamas statement.

The rival Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry said that as Israel’s campaign “reaches a new peak of brutality,” there was “a solid international position rejecting Israel’s unhinged aggression”.

The text proposed by Jordan in the name of 22 Arab countries called for “an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities.”

An earlier version called for an “immediate ceasefire.”

Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 220 others, according to Israeli officials.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, in an update on Friday, said the strikes had now killed 7,326 people, mainly civilians and many of them children.

The resolution co-sponsored by nearly 50 other countries centered largely on the dire humanitarian situation in sealed-off Gaza as Israel presses on with its bombardment.

The document urges “immediate” provision of water, food, medical supplies, fuel and electricity and unhindered access for UN and other humanitarian agencies trying to help the Palestinians.

The draft condemns “all acts of violence aimed at Palestinian and Israeli civilians, including all acts of terrorism and indiscriminate attacks” but it does not mention Hamas.

The resolution exposed a division within Western countries, with France voting for the measure; Germany, Italy and Britain abstaining; while Austria and the United States voted against.

“It is outrageous that this resolution fails to name the perpetrators of the October 7 terrorist attack,” US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.

“Another key word missing in this resolution is hostage,” she added.

 A U.S. judge on Friday asked former President Donald Trump whether he wants to appear on television when he stands trial in federal court on charges of attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington asked Trump’s lawyers to give their opinion by Nov. 10 on media requests to broadcast the trial, which is scheduled to begin in March 2024.

In two separate filings, NBC News and a coalition of 19 media organizations and press advocacy groups argue that the public has a right to see an unprecedented trial of a former U.S. president who is also the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination. They argue that a federal rule barring broadcast of criminal proceedings is unconstitutional.

Prosecutors have said in court filings that they oppose the effort but have not explained why. They are due to file their argument by Nov. 3.

Trump’s lead lawyer in the case, John Lauro, previously told CNN that he personally supported televising the trial. Lauro did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It is unclear whether Trump, a former reality television star who has aggressively courted publicity in his business and political career, will want to broadcast the trial, which will come in the thick of the Republican nominating contest.

Trump has made extensive comments to TV cameras staked outside a New York state courtroom, where he is currently standing trial on civil business-fraud charges.

Federal courts, unlike many state courts, bar TV cameras and photography in courtrooms. A U.S. judicial panel on Thursday agreed to consider relaxing that broadcast ban, but said any change would not happen until after Trump stands trial in this case and a second criminal trial due to start in May over his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

Proceedings in a separate criminal election-subversion case in Georgia involving Trump and more than a dozen other defendants have been televised. He also is due to stand trial in March in New York in a case stemming from a hush-money payment to a porn star.

Trump has pleaded not guilty and accused prosecutors of interfering with his 2024 presidential campaign.

The Mahal Empowerment Mission (MEM), an organisation of Muslim Jamaaths functioning in the state capital, on Friday decided to remove senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor from its Palestine solidarity event scheduled here on October 30.

The MEM of the Jamaaths from 100 wards in the city corporation, took the decision in the wake of the controversy over Mr Tharoor’s recent statement at a Palestine solidarity rally organised by the Indian Union Muslim League a day ago, in which he said the October 7 attack on Israel was a terrorist strike.

“We have communicated to Tharoor that we have decided to remove him from the programme,” MEM president Shajahan Sreekaryam told PTI.

Facing an intense social media attack, Mr Tharoor has issued a clarification, saying he has always been with the people of Palestine and he does not agree with the propagation of just one sentence from his speech at the IUML rally.

The IUML, a key ally of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, organised a massive rally in northern Kozhikode on Thursday, denouncing the reported indiscriminate killings of civilians, including women and children, in Gaza.

Tens of thousands of IUML supporters took part in the Palestine Solidarity Human Rights rally, inaugurated by IUML leader Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal.

Mr Tharoor, who was the chief guest, said innocent women and children suffered casualties, initially in Israel and subsequently in Gaza, and emphasised the imperative of ending this conflict.

In unequivocal terms, Mr Tharoor also condemned the attack carried out by Hamas in Israel on October 7, describing it as an ‘act of terror’.